47-55.1 Bench seat with built in seatbelts?

[suburban99]

Anyone know what fits and what years.
Trying to decide if I should add seatbelts to the stock bench I have or swap it for a more modern one with seatbelts built in..

[layinrocker65]

The stock bench is pretty short. You’d have to be a pretty short person to add shoulder belts and not break your back in a crash. Thats if the stock frame doesn’t bend in a crash.

[65blackfleetside]

I used a 3rd row Leather GM escalade seat. welded up a metal stand. The seats snap off and on stand. Looks like a small Bench seat. 2- 3 point Seatbelts are all all included. My Amps and ECU etc is all mounted under the seat. Easy access to work on. Fits proportional to cab. Very comfortable.

[mr48chev]

My opinion may not be worth lot in this but to me those later seats with the built in belts are just flat too ugly and wrong to put in an early truck that others are going to look in and check out. To me they look like you settled for what was at the wrecking yard the day you went that wasn't torn up.

Most people who are using three point seat belts in AD trucks are mounting the belt pretty similar to what you would see in say a mid 70's truck with three point belts rather as low as you see on that Escellade seat that might fold on you in a hard impact because of the belt being attached to the lean back.

[R&B51]

65blackfleetside, wow I like that! I bought early 90s bench and planning to cut 4” out have upholstered etc but that looks great.
Fit width with any inches to spare sides?
I’m putting all electrical under seat and was trying to figure how to get to it.
Taken any long drives in it?
Height off floor to bottom of seat? Sit back far enough ( I’m 6’2”)

[joedoh]

65blackfleetside thats a great solution!

[65blackfleetside]

"too ugly and wrong to put in an early truck that others are going to look in and check out. To me they look like you settled for what was at the wrecking yard the day you went that wasn't torn up."

Mr.48Chevy-

1. I looked long and hard to find the correct color and material for this seat locally from an individual. Many people take these out of their SUV's and never use them. This seat was never even sat on. The GM engineers have designed it to be safe.- I Did not have nor did I want to spend $800-$1500 on a recovered or Aftermarket OEM style seat.

2. The OP asked for some alternatives to the OEM seat.

3. I particularly do not like "chopped trucks" but I am not going to sit here and rip your truck apart. If you like them chopped -that's all that matters.

4. I actually stole this idea from Orgy because I liked it so much- So by insulting me you are insulting others on this form.

I don't see anything productive with insulting each others choices on our builds.If you want to debate engineer qualities of a particular seat etc that is fine.

5. I always try and follow what my mom taught me: If you don't have anything Nice to say- Don't say anything at all!

[Rickysnickers]

Ok, now that we both have that out of our systems, let's get back to the topic at hand. That is all.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by 65blackfleetside

I don't see anything productive with insulting each others choices on our builds.If you want to debate engineer qualities of a particular seat etc that is fine.

5. I always try and follow what my mom taught me: If you don't have anything Nice to say- Don't say anything at all!

First: CHILL. With 200+ posts you haven't been here long and "taking on" a veteran here isn't going to be successful long term.

Second: I don't think Mr48Chev's comment was intended to be "insulting". We are all on these forums to SHARE OPINIONS and you're a grown man, you know opinions are like a$$holes, etc. We offer our opinions on all sorts of things related to these era trucks. Desirability, colors, mechanical options, cosmetics, engineering, etc.

He offered an opinion. He didn't say it is ugly, he offered what he felt would be how this type of seat might be taken by an observer.

I cut open my B pillar and mounted a thick plate w/welded-on nut to attach a shoulder belt. Someone looking into mine may well think it looks wrong for the era truck or criticize the engineering as I KNOW in a truly hard hit it is ONLY going to keep my face from hitting the steering wheel but isn't going to function as a modern car would.

THIRD: Have a nice weekend.

[mr48chev]

Dan is 100% correct, it is purely my opinon. I've been there done that more than once, going to the wrecking yard and looking at the the rigs with seats that fit that were reasonably close to a color that worked to get a presentable seat to put in the truck so it had a presentable seat. The seat that is in it now is out of a mid 70's Dodge St Regius sedan that is kind of a maroon brocade. Looks reasonably close to a stock AD seat if you aren't paying attention when you walk past it but was the most uncomfortable seat I have ever had in the truck. I bought it just before I went to Bonneville and Pleasonton in 1998 and although it looked comfortable about the time I got to Twin falls I felt like I was driving on a wood church pew. Including the original seat that my buddy redid in roll and pleat for me in 1973 I have had probably 6 different seats in that truck including a set of buckets that didn't stay long. I'd love to find another 67 Toronado seat to take to the upholstery shop to have redone when I get there but those are non existant.
Still we have different plans for our trucks, you want primarily a driver to take to some shows, I want a show truck to take to a few select indoor shows and then become a driven truck that hits some far flung events. If I manage that remains to be seen.

[dsraven]

c'mon boys. lets get along. hotrodding is all about what the owner wants. true, he/she may take some flack for the style, kinda like me and my hair cut (slightly balding, airplanes circle overhead if I don't wear a cap)
avalanche seats are likely the same as escalade, dunno. I had an avalanche and the bottom seat flipped up, hinged at the front, then the back folded down and made a platform so when the rear cab wall was laid down the box floor extended into the back seat area. great idea and I used that soooo many times.
anyway, the point was, maybe more avalanches than escalades for donor vehicles if thats what tickles your fancy.
personally, I am using the front bucket seats from an envoy that have the built in seat belts.

[R&B51]

65blackfleetside,
Hope you don’t mind a few questions.
Does the seat fold when you unsnap it?
How do you get it out of there - maybe with someone helping you on the other side?
Do you have any pictures of it folding or with what gear you have under the seat?
Do you have a picture of the frame you welded up?

[65blackfleetside]

Yes both seats fold down flat and then flip a second time forward if needed while still attached to the metal rack/base that I fabricated. A different lever detaches the seats to take them completely out of the truck.

There are 3 different GM OEM levers on the back of the seats to accomplish these moves.

I build this about 3 years ago. The rack is basically 1- 1/2" angle flat side up. Welded into a rectangle with 4 short legs at each corner for mounting. You will need 3/8" diameter round tube (solid) to weld across the rectangle. two pieces go across the front 1 piece in the rear- space accordingly. This is what the seats click onto.

As I mentioned earlier This was an idea that I got from another forum member Orgy. His truck is a little newer than mine so I did not use his exact dimensions.

I also made my base footprint a little smaller so you can not see it once the seats are sitting on it.

Attached are some pictures that Orgy posted on this subject. Orgy also did some very nice fiberglass moldings on his metal base (Shown in picture) I did not do this as my base.

[Rickysnickers]

I think you mean Ogre, not Orgy

[65blackfleetside]

"I think you mean Ogre, not Orgy"

Yes LOl
Thanks for catching that.

[joedoh]

nice work man!

LOL@ORGY I hope the nickname sticks really.

[R&B51]

Ogre, I’m not laughing AT you, hopefully WITH you, but laughing hard. Maybe we’ll blame on Siri.

65blackfleetside,
Thanks so much for all that detail, that’s exactly what I needed. I really like the flip up out-of-the-way and even removable if needed. I don’t think there’s any way to get that done with the 90 Chevy bench seat I have. Chevy front seat so who knows maybe designed for longer ride comfort? Your solution solves so many problems that it may be better for me overall. Thanks also for the diagram I know you have some time in that and it’s kind of you to share it.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by R&B51

Ogre, I’m not laughing AT you, hopefully WITH you, but laughing hard. Maybe we’ll blame on Siri.

I have what may be the funniest auto spell "error" ever.

My daughter is married to a biracial man named Daryl. He's a wonderful guy, father to my three grandchildren. They've been married for about 12 yers now.

Early on in their relationship I sent her a text asking her, "...what does Daryl think about..." something or other.

Autospell correct it to "What does darkie think about..."

HOLY MOLY! I didn't know him that well back then and could anything be more blatantly racist and insulting than that? FORTUNATELY I caught it before pressing send. I told my daughter about it, she told him about it and he thought it was hilarious too! Whew, dodged a true bullet there.

[1project2many]

I work for a company with the initials STS. We transport people in buses. Several years ago I sent a message to a female coworker to let her know that one of our buses could pick her up and bring her to the office. Good thing she had a sense of humor when my phone promised her that I'd give her a ride on the STD bus.

[vintovka]

Was thinking about a fold down seat. Would be really nice but wonder about the anchoring issues. Stayed with original but having to add grab bars for being crippled up gave me an idea. I used the upper bolt on the bars as the anchor for shoulder belt. Seems to work.

[mr48chev]

Auto correct on the phone= Racing in the house to edit what your phone wanted to say rather than what you actually wanted to say.

As far as seat belt mounting goes I want them solid mounted to the body with reinforced mounts. When I rolled my 70 the seat bolts that we ended up figuring that my late son had not quite put in right broke and I was left with the belt holding me and the seat.
When I got rear ended by the garbage truck in my Geo Prism the impact broke the seat back and I was laid back and the impact with the Johnson barrier threw me forward against the shoulder belt. That was after I missed the box truck that he would have shoved me under if I hadn't turned the wheel and tried to get out of the way.
I walked away from two helicopter crashes in Nam (I wasn't driving) because belts and shoulder harness kept me in place. Those are the main reason I want seat belts firmly mounted to the body rather than a seat that might break loose. You stay in and stay in place you have a far better chance of survival.

Appeance wise seats just like everythign have to look like they actually belong in the truck rather than being stuck there as an afterthought.
A guy in this area has these 2001 (I don't know what model) Audi buckets that outside of the headrests would look real nice in an AD that a guy wanted buckets in. Tan seats.
The black ones are out off a 99 Subarau legacy but again have squared off seat backs that work astetically and are very simple in the upholstery design if a person wasn't inclined to redo them right off. Still buckets aren't for everyone and actually aren't usually that practical.

[dsraven]

As a firefighter in a decent sized city I can tell you seat belts work. I have also been to lots of fatalities or severe injuries where the cool looking belts were not mounted correctly and did basically nothing to hold the occupant in the seat securely. If mounting seat belts to the floor of an old vehicle possibly also support the floor under that mount. A lot of these trucks mounted the seat to a channel that was spot welded to the floor. Who knows what the inside if that void looks like. Maybe a tube run through both floor and channel, welded in, and the supported under the floor with a larger "washer" of sheet metal would be an option for a through bolt to mount the belts. A full sized adult Male, say 200 lbs at 60 mph, plus inertia forces can do a lot of "pull" forces on a belt mount. Think of it like a weight of yourself, dropped from a foot of height, hung on that belt anchor. Would it hold?
Up to you to decide.
Check out a newer car, shoulder harness mount locations have a good sized piece of metal behind them. Floor mounts too. Seat mounts also.

[mr48chev]

We loose about two people a month around here who get thrown out of their vehicles in accidents. One of my wife's coworkers a beautiful gal in her mid 30's got killed when she got tossed out of her Dodge Durango when it rolled on the freeway. The Dodge could have been driven away after it was put back on it's wheels if somone was so inclined. My wife fell out of our 48 on the way to work one morning when she was sitting sideways in the seat with her back to the door and the door popped open on a slow turn. It took the doctor and nurse a couple of hours to dig the gravel out of her knees and hand and she still has scars 44 years later. I stilll have to fight with her every time we get in a car to fasten her seat belt.

[vintovka]

Sadly We lost a club member just 10 days ago in a T roadster. I was looking at the seat belts just days before and wondered how they would fare in a crash and rollover. Folks gotta remember the chance we take in older/custom cars. Airbags. crumple zones, modern auto lock doors and seat belts and computer crash avoidance makes many forget.

[mobileortho]

The ‘03 Avalanche seat worked for me.